postmodernism and relativism

• relativism

  • idea that different groups, cultures and individuals have different views as to what is true. each sees the world in their own way, through own perspectives
  • there is no independent way of judging whether any view is truer than any other
  • argues there is no absolute / objective truth - many different ideas of truth
• postmodernists

  • take relativist view
  • reject the idea that any one account of the social world is superior than the other
  • any perspective that claims to have the truth are just meta-narratives (big stories)
  • These assumptions and values influence the topics that sociologists of different perspectives choose to research, the concepts they develop and the conclusions they reach.
• a03 of postmodernism and relativism

  • if we apply their ideas to postmodernism it leads to paradoxical conclusion
  • we shouldn't believe what they say either - cannot claim postmodernism is true either
  • relativism is self-defeating, since it claims to be telling us something true, while simultaneously telling us that no one can tell us what is true.